Provenance: The State Historical Society of North Dakota acquired the North Dakota Press Women Records from Frances Wold in March 1985. Additions to the collection have been made since that time.
Property Rights: The State Historical Society of North Dakota owns the property rights to this collection.
Copyrights: Copyrights to materials in this collection remain with the donor, publisher, author, or author's heirs. Researcher should consult the 1976 Copyright Act, Public Law 94‑553, Title 17 U.S. Code and an archivist at this repository if clarification of copyright requirements is needed.
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Transfer:
Historical Sketch
North Dakota Professional Communicators: How It All Began
by Frances Wold, NDPC Historian

North Dakota Professional Communicators, formerly North Dakota Press Women, was organized April 15, 1950, as the 20th affiliate state unit of the National Federation of Press Women, Inc., founded in 1937.

Charter member Fern Lee not only made the arrangements for the organizational meeting, but she also served as the first NDPC vice president, the second president, was elected treasurer of NFPW, was honored with a NFPW Life Membership (one of only 55 members to be so recognized) and in 1957 was NDPC’s first Woman of Achievement.

Joyce Lang of Enderlin was the first president of NDPC, and was also the first editor of the group’s official publication Type-Hi, a name that came from the hot-lead days of typesetting. The first issue was published in May 1950. At the 1987 and 1988 National Conventions, Type-Hi won the top award for affiliate newsletters under editors Julie Henderson and Kathy Freise.

Since 1952, the highlight of the NDPC conventions has been the naming of award winners in the annual communications contest. North Dakota members have received a fair share of national honors in the NFPW contest, in 1984 and 1985 Cathy Mauk won the Sweepstakes Award.
In 1957 a scholarship fund was established that is still maintained. A scholarship is awarded annually to a North Dakota college student in the communications field.

Eugene Carr, executive manager of the North Dakota Newspaper Association, became the first man accepted as a member when NDPC voted at the 1973 convention to open membership to men.

Two years of planning came to successful fruition in June 1974 when members of NDPC hosted the national convention at Bismarck. An unexpected result of the convention was that NDPC was able to contribute $2,000 toward the building of the Heritage Center in the capital city.
At the 1988 Spring Convention members voted to change the name of the organization from North Dakota Press Women to North Dakota Professional Communicators.

On the state level, members of the NDPC strive to carry out the objectives of the national organization: “To advance standards of the communications profession; provide for exchange of communications ideas, knowledge and experiences; and coordinate efforts of interest to women communications professionals.”

Believing that “freedom of the press is to be guarded as an inalienable right of the citizens of a free society,” NDPC embraces the responsibility of protecting the public’s right to a free flow of information.